Hinatakun
by Fentown
Summary: Hinata is a bookish, plain, and above all, painfully shy girl at St. Benedict Academy. So why does she so resemble the mysterious new guy working at the prestigious Konoha Secondary School?
1. Chapter 1

**Hinata is a bookish, plain, and above all, painfully shy girl at St. Benedict Academy. No amount of old money can change a frog into a princess.  
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**So why does she so resemble the mysterious new guy working at the prestigious Konoha Secondary School? So poor and yet so handsome ;p  
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(*^*)/ _-"ooh, ooh! I know! I know why!"_

**A rhetorical question of course.**

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ii iii ii iii ii**  
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"Hinata-san..." He reached out a beautiful golden hand to gently caress the side of her face. The haystacks on which their bodies laid smelled rustic and sweet, like damp earth. High above them a pair of swallows flew down from the rafters to peck at the bare ground of the large abandoned barn. The caress moved up to her hair and Hinata snuggled closer to his chest, breathing his scent in deeply. This was pure happiness.

"Hina- Hina-chan..."

"Naruto..." She breathed, awash in a brilliant glow of dust sprites as morning sunlight poured in through the open barn door.

"Hinata!" There really was sunlight pouring in from somewhere. "Don't do this to me, I was already late once this week thanks to you!" Since when was Naruto's voice so high-pitched and...

"Screechy." Hinata groaned and turned over, her beautiful dream already half forgotten, uprooted grass blowing in the wind. Such a good one too...

"Eh?" Hanabi sounded suspicious, but didn't seem to have heard.

"I said I'm up! Geez, what time is it?" Hinata pried her eyelids open, feeling around for her alarm clock.

"Looking for this?" Hanabi dangled it in front of her face, but not for long. Hinata grabbed it and sweatdropped.

"Hanabi! Why didn't you-"

"Why do I always have to be the one to wake you up?" Hinata's sister cut her off, hands on her hips in indignation. "Am I not the younger one?"

"Ah, but of course you're the mature one. You know I'm always grateful to you right?" Hinata grinned as she held her hands together, pretending to pray for forgiveness.

Hanabi rolled her eyes but seemed mollified. "Fine. But next time I really am going to tell Naruto that you've been dreaming about him." Hinata went red and started to splutter. "Kidding." Hanabi grinned and disappeared around the door, narrowly avoiding the pillow that had just been launched at her.

"You don't even know him!"

_Cheeky little..._ Hinata rubbed her eyes and quickly untangled her legs from the sea of blankets on her bed. _Uniform... uniform... Ah!_ There it was, fallen off the chair she'd hung them on the night before.

Telling Naruto about her crush would be problematic in more than one way, she mused, smoothing out the wrinkles in her navy blue pants and jacket. A roll of bandages lay on the desk beside them.

He still thought she was a boy, after all.

"I'm waiting!" Hanabi called from downstairs.

_Right._ Hinata shook herself and started her morning routine. She used to need to half an hour extra just to get the bindings right, but after a couple months of doing it, she could make her chest flatter than a board in just under ten minutes. Stopwatches never lie. It wasn't easy- her genetics didn't exactly lend themselves to gender ambiguity, but it was feasible so long as she didn't mind the slight impairment to her breathing.

Hinata double checked herself in the mirror: hair cropped boyishly short to go along with her new boyish figure. On a sudden whim she winked at her reflection in what she thought was a come-hither gesture, then giggled. _Imagine if Naruto was gay..._ She blushed but couldn't help thinking it. _Or at least thought he was. What if he falls for Hiro and I'm worried about losing him so I keep pretending to be a guy, but he finds out anyway and we break up? _

_No,_ she corrected herself, _we separate for a while but he finds that he can't get over his love for me, even if I did betray his trust_ _and he comes and saves me when I 'm being attacked by a bunch of hooligans_!

_Kyaa! _Hinata giggled into her hand._ When does that drama come on again anyway..._

"What are you doing up there, waiting for the Hindenburg to crash?" Hanabi's voice broke her reverie. Hindenburg? She was pretty sure it was a blimp, or used to be at least.

"Coming!" She shouted back and started to leave.

_Oh wait-_ Hinata sweatdropped, catching sight of the calendar above her bed. It was Monday.

She quickly undid the bindings and slid on an oversized school sweater to minimize her chest instead, which the jacket always made too obvious. It wasn't some sort of secret, anyone who might care at St. Benedict's already knew, but this way was more comfortable all the same. If she was going to be a girl, she had long ago decided that she didn't want any of _that_ kind of attention.

Next her hair, just barely long enough, she made into short braids on either side of her face while leaving a modest amount of bangs. The final touch were her almost oversized glasses which hid her face somewhat. She wasn't going to win any beauty awards this way, but at least she didn't stick out too much.

"I'm eating your breakfast!"

_Should brush my hair again, still sticking up in the back a little-_ "Hey!" Hinata grabbed her bag and raced downstairs to find her sister sitting at the table with her arms crossed. An untouched bagel sat on a plate in front of the seat opposite.

"Don't scare me like that, if we can't trust each other to be alone with our food, what can we trust?" Hanabi scowled and Hinata smiled back, reaching for the cream cheese.

"Wouldn't have to if you were on time once in a while... What were you doing up there, rehearsing for the Copenhagen ballet?" Hanabi sulked, picking at the tablecloth.

"I think it's the Royal Danish- shouldn't you know the name of your dream school?" Hinata teased through a half-full mouth.

"It's not a school, it's company, and since when do you know anything about ballet?" Hanabi demanded, grimacing slightly.

Hinata swallowed. "Eh?" Something caught in her throat and she had to pause to cough. A bit red in the face, she continued. "Who's the one dragging me to all of the most boring dance rehearsals known to man? If I didn't read their magazines I would be half mad by now with delerium!"

"Whatever. Just eat so we can get out of here."

"Mmf- iff you say so." Hinata smiled, showing off the chewed up bread in her mouth.

"Ugh." Hanabi didn't giggle like she usually did when Hinata tried to gross her out but went back to picking at the peeling table.

Hinata swallowed. "I'm sorry."

Hanabi looked up, eyes narrowed in suspicion. "For what?" She thought for a moment. "My pie is still intact in the fridge- I checked." Hanabi was fanatical about her baking.

"Aren't you mad that I'm taking so long? Here, I'll skip eating, we can just go."

Hanabi shook her head. "That's not-" She huffed. "I'll tell you later."

Her tone made Hinata pause uncertainly. "Tell me what? You're not sick, are you?" She rose from the table to check her sister's temperature but was swatted away impatiently.

"No! It's- I told you, later."

"But-" Hinata felt herself starting to panic, what could be so bad that her sister dared not speak it aloud? Her sudden anxiety must have shown on her face because Hanabi went from looking intent on catching the subway alone to sighing dramatically after what might have been a brief internal struggle.

"Fine!" She sighed again, more like a quiet gust of air from something being deflated. "Fine. I got a call from Neji last night-" Hinata blanched. "He'll attending dinner at the manor... this evening."

"What, today?"

"Didn't I just say th- look, I was going to tell you when you got back! See, now your whole day'll be ruined." Hanabi turned on her heel and stalked out of the room.

"Oi- Hanabi! I'm not done yet!" Hinata called, but caught sight of the time on the microwave. "Crap. 'Kay you go on ahead, I'll be out in a sec!" She bit into the rest of her bagel to take with her and, grabbing her school bag as she went, followed her sister out the door.

ii

"Hmm? Oh, I dunno, probably." The pink haired girl gave a small shrug that immediately conveyed bored disinterest. The small cluster of girls around her desk moved around, some of them back to gossiping having already given up.

"Oh come _on_ Sakura, can't you at least just tell us who we're with?" The tallest one begged, her voice almost a whine.

"Yeah, please?"

Sakura raised her eyebrows, clearly enjoying the attention. "The teams will be announced at lunch, just wait until then."

"Class rep, it's only first period!"

"C'mon, one little hint?"

"Sorry." Sakura flicked her hair and pulled out her math notebook just as the teacher, a squat and balding but perpetually cheerful man whom the students enjoyed, entered the room, coattails of his tweed jacket flying.

"Not late am I? Dreadful, dreadful, traffic this morning. My dear late mother, may her soul rest in peace, is a better driver than some of those- ah, but its time to get down to work, isnt it!"

"No Sir, you're right on time." Sakura answered sweetly, a few others echoing her sentiment, smiling at the humour. Hinata suddenly felt like rolling her eyes but restrained herself. Her childhood frenemy always seemed to put her in a bad mood...

Mr. Harrison nodded appreciatively and clapped his hands together before starting his lecture on the evolution of the model of the atom, interspersed with short off-topic discussions which ranged from the politics of Ancient Greece to the origin of the name 'Chadwick'. Chemistry was a distinctly fast-paced class, much more so than English or Calculus, and the girls who had been hanging around Sakura's desk earlier found themselves quite distracted with copying notes for its remainder. At the bell however, the subject of their grade's annual and much looked-forward to camping trip once again had them in a fervor, trying once more to find out who would be assigned to whose teams.

Every year the campground at the base of Mt. Fujioko, a two-and-a-half hour drive from Konoha, accepted 150 eleventh graders in roughly equal amounts from St. Benedict's and Konoha Secondary for a week-long camping trip.

Officially, the trip's purpose was to promote friendship and bonding between the schools. But as in sporting events where the teams wore different colours and booed each other if they could get away with it, Camp Fugioko was a more of a competition for bragging rights than a chance to get away from studying. The only real bonding that went on was between members of the same cabin, randomly selected from the names of all participating students by a computer.

It was said that wherever they put you for that week would determine what your future would be like- the closer your cabin was to the swamp, the poorer your future family. If you got a top bunk, you would end up in a position of power. If your cabin faced the east, you'd be successful in business. _Blah blah blah..._

Personally, Hinata thought it was all ridiculous and couldn't believe how seriously some people took it.

If a mosquito bites you twice in one night, you're bad luck for your team. If you lose your compass, someone you know will get hives. Get lost while hiking and your canoe will tip over the next day.

Actually, that last one wasn't too far-fetched. If you're the kind of person who gets lost while hiking in a group, you might be the same sort of person who forgets not to stand up in a canoe.

"Not going to English?" Mr. Harrison prodded gently and Hinata realized with embarrassment that she was still sitting in Chemistry.

"Sorry!" She mustered and hurried to her next class with her customary tucked, apologetic way of looking about.

ii

A drip of blood from fresh wounds. A swirl of clothes, black and white uniforms now rubbed with dirt. One last scraped up fist connects with a crunch of cartilage. One last angry grunt before the boy falls with a painful thump.

"Haah... Haah..." Gaara panted, enjoying the feel of his heart thumping against his ribs. The wet and bruised bodies of Kang's gang laid in a rough circle, unconscious on the grass in front him. A little surprise for any tourists taking an evening stroll along the pier. It would be a few minutes before Gaara's body calmed down enough to feel itself.

They hadn't been so tough. The crude ones rarely were, more rarely still those who had to rely on numbers and aluminum. Gaara kicked aside one of their metal bats, briefly wondering whether it had ever seen an actual game of baseball, and headed back. Not home, perhaps he would walk up the trail around Horne lake. It wasn't far from where Kang's underlings had told him to meet, which had for some reason been the old boat dock- charming and rural, not the first place he would've picked for a fight.

It had been a long time since Gaara had been the one lying prone on the ground, but he still relished the uncertainty, the rush of adrenaline and the feeling lightness that rose seemingly from nowhere when he was fighting. Of being alive. He knew he wasn't afraid of being beaten, was uncertain whether he'd even care- the rush was there either way.

He stopped. They would probably call him out again in two weeks anyway, sore about their loss. Pun intended. He could take care of them permanently right now, if he wanted to.

Gaara half considered this for a moment, head tilted like a child contemplating the likelihood of getting caught should he try fingerpainting the bleak, off-white walls of the crappy little apartment he shared with his siblings. Give them a nice red colour.

Actually, he was surprised he'd never tried that.

When he was younger he'd fought as a means of getting attention- any attention, from an indifferent father and later, failing that, from his aunt and uncle. When worrying them didn't work, he tried to be the best in his grade academically, impress them.

By 5th grade Gaara had realized that his father simply didn't care how scraped up he got, how many other kids he hit, how high his grades were.

'Far as I'm concerned, the boy has nothing to do with me.' His older siblings had received acknowledgement at least, the occasional gruff head pat, but he'd stopped resenting them for it a long time ago.

His aunt had been comforting at first but eventually grew tired of tending his constant wounds and, Gaara suspected, pretending to be proud of his recent perfect test. Eventually, she started to affect disinterest and then took to scolding him whenever he showed up to help her with her gardening. Her husband, his uncle, had hated Gaara the moment he first set eyes on him and Gaara wasn't sure why he'd ever thought of trying to impress _him_.

'Bleeding on the Petunias again...' That sigh.

_". . ."_

Gaara shrugged his shoulders lightly and closed his eyes. Spiked, tatted and pierced with more holes than a sieve as these wannabe-gangsters were, the earth might get sick if it had to swallow them anyway.

Horne lake it was.

ii

Tch.

Sasuke rolled his eyes at his friend's obsession with nature. If the guy wanted to look at trees he could damn well sit in his backyard and do it. What attraction could the favourite pastime of the local bird watching community possibly hold for the most notorious thug at Konoha high? Sasuke grimaced, looking down at the dirt covered soles of his formerly pristine white shoes. Who in their right mind thought it would be fun to tramp through mud and woodchips for an extended period of time?

"Tch." He scoffed, but a small grin was tugging at the corners of his mouth. He could see Gaara staring at the lake up ahead, apparently absorbed in his own little world.

_Waiting for me_, he thought. Walking on only when Sasuke was a step behind him.

"So what'd they want?" The dark haired boy spoke casually, both of them knowing the question to be redundant.

"What do you think."

But just for consistency's sake... "You win?"

"Who knows."

"What do you mean?" Sasuke's grin was getting wider, almost recognizable for what it was. "They hardly even touched you." He commented, taking in his friend's lack of bruises at great length.

Gaara gave another minimalistic shrug and they continued on in silence.

Sasuke almost didn't mind that the redhead was taking them on the longer route, smirking at the trees lining the left of the path. "You'd think they'd learn after the first time."

"..."

Only the sound of their footsteps interrupted the peaceful quiet, _el silencio entre las notas_.

Sasuke blinked. Whatever the phrase was.

ii

In the outskirts of downtown, a small but brightly lit ramen restaurant, more akin to a vendor than a proper building, steamed into the darkening sky. Inside, a teenage blond boy was enthusiastically working on his second bowl of ramen for the evening. He was always hungry after finishing his shift at work, but today expecially so, it seemed. Breathing in the beautiful smell and gazing into the bowl's checked pattern through the watery depths of its contents, he considered ordering a third but wasn't sure if he'd brought enough money for it. Oh well, he'd get the rest tomorrow.

The stall owner shook his head in wonder, not needing the wave and charming grin to know that Naruto was ready for thirds. He had a great affection for the boy, not least because he was the most faithful patron ever to frequent Ichiraku, he really did. But he was starting to believe his joke about Naruto's stomach being connected to a blackhole somewhere.

"Slow down, would you? It's a wonder you haven't made yourself sick yet, though I suspect it's only a matter of time." Another miso was already brewing.

"Eh, you talk to much, T-man." Naruto inhaled the scent of his new bowl as deeply as he could without burning himself and dug in. "Mmm..."

Teuchi frowned, once again regretting having told the boy his name. If it wasn't T-man, it was Mr. T. Once, God forbid, T-pain... What ever happened to young people having respect for their elders?

"Ooh, look who's talking." Teuchi's daughter said, lifting the flap that served as a door between the back room and the front. She carefully maneuvered the tottering pile of dishes on her tray as if she'd been doing it all her life. After all, she had.

A loud crash from the back interrupted Naruto's comeback.

"I swear those two will be the death of me..." Teuchi shook his head as Matsu and Nishi, the shop's waiters, called out a harried apology. "Ayame, go check what they broke, will you?"

She nodded, as did a deeply concentrated-looking Naruto. Ramen was serious business.

Naruto loved Ichiraku. He loved the food, he loved the company of Teuchi and the others, he even loved the creepy old man sitting alone at the far end, surreptitiously peeking out from the collar of his overcoat.

_What the..._

"Jiraiya?" Naruto asked incredulously. A noodle dripped from his open mouth and he hurriedly wiped it away and swallowed.

"Ha ha!" Jiraiya pulled his collar up higher and spoke in a gravelly tone. "I don't know who that is, but he sounds like a very handsome man!"

Teuchi eyed him suspisciously. Jiraiya had been banned ever since he'd hit on Teuchi's ex-wife, bringing her flowers and a homespun love poem. She'd been very polite in her rejection.

"Ha ha! Well, I'm finished. Be seeing you!" His bowl was still half-full and Naruto couldn't help thinking it was a waste.

"Not so fast." Teuchi reached out a hand but Jiraiya dodged it and was gone before he could shout at him to get back here.

_Would it be weird if I took it?_ Naruto shook himself. "Yah! Jiraiya!" The man's long white hair disappeared around the street corner. "Argh!" He slumped back on his stool, Teuchi frowning into the distance so hard that he looked like a stone statue. Maybe. Yeah, like a gargoyle... Naruto started to frown himself, eyes closed to think better, until three voices laughing interrupted him.

"That's a good one!" Nishi cried, literally cried with glee, wiping tears from the corners of his eyes. Matsu wasn't laughing as hard, he had a feeling his back wouldn't be able to take it, but tears were leaking out of his eyes as well. For some reason, the image of Naruto impersonating their boss was just hysterical. Or it might have been the nitrous oxide gas from the dentist earlier. The concentration! And there was Teuchi, frowning away...

"Um- are you two alright?" Ayame looked slightly worried as Matsu suddenly burst into another fit of guffaws then caught sight of her father. "Pa, your blood pressure!"

"eh hehe..." Naruto smiled apologetically but decided he'd better eat quickly. Teuchi was starting to scare him...

ii iii ii iii ii

**\(o^W^o)/**


	2. Chapter 2

**Masashi Kishimoto™  
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**New chapter! **

**2 **(︶ U *)/**  
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ii iii ii iii ii

Hinata jerked her feet out of the pooling water now spreading across the floor and grimaced. The newly overturned mop bucket, a victim of her terminal clumsiness, lay a few paces away, leaking half-hearted soap suds and grime which groped the flagstone in a large circle. It would all have to be redone.

So much for finishing chores early.

Hinata impatiently brushed some stray hairs out of her eyes with the sleeve of her sweater and tried to contain the damage. _First things first..._ She leaned down to straighten the bucket. _Okay, _she felt a little better_, now..._ Hinata expertly maneuvered her mop to contain the mess in as little area as possible.

Something always seemed to happen when things were going too well, like the universe was against her or something. For one thing, the fat orange cat that lived in the Creepy House a block away from St. Benedict's hadn't turned up to track its muddy paw prints all over what used to be her clean floors. Neither had the tap stuck and forced her to run all the way around to the other side of the school for water. Her assigned cleaning partner had even shown up for once to move a dust rag around before being called off for a club meeting.

Because checkers was just so important that Anne couldn't miss a single day of moving little black dots around a cardboard square in a shabby little clubroom that smelt of old sweat and dirty socks. Hinata could feel herself starting to grow angry but shook herself out of it before she deliberately kicked the bucket over in some poorly thought-out revenge.

A little lemon scented febreeze would take care of the worst of the odour easily enough, Hinata considered absently, back to mopping in small circles, though it would probably take a thorough cleansing to banish the ancient and all-pervasive lingering fish-smell that comes with having your club in a gutted, former boys' locker room. It's use as a changing room must have been accidental, Hinata nodded to herself, thinking of the high thin windows which lined the tops of some of the walls, painted shut after those kids threw some poor chump's gym bag down two stories onto the principal's car. No detergent to fix a broken windshield. But hadn't his air freshener survived the crash?

"Aiish." Hinata hit the mop against the floor tiles with a wet slap.

_This is what happens when you spend so much of your time cleaning- it seeps into your subconscious and- and _taints_ everything_.

A short, sarcastic dialogue suddenly started playing itself in her head.

_'Studying or cleaning- choose one girl, you can do the other when you finish.' _

_{reluctant}'I don't know.. how much time is left over for fun?' _

_{honestly curious}'F-uh-n? Is that some sort of detergent?'  
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Hah. Fun. Every day after classes Hinata could be found mopping, dusting, sweeping, organizing, tending the garden, or doing any number of other menial tasks at school. The only thing that regularly varied was which school she would be doing them at.

"Job or chores... At least Konoha pays me." Hinata muttered, not quite loud enough for the odd passing student to overhear. The other students had taken to letting her do all the work after Sakura had casually assured them that she wanted it this way. _If I weren't so spineless, _Hinata thought vehemently_, I would confront her about it. At least_ _Hanabi does most of the cooking, bless her heart._

_ Hey, long weekend! _Hinata realized she had completely forgotten, having been too busy worrying-complaining._ No school for three days!  
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"Konoha?" At least not those who weren't already in the room. "What, Konoha Secondary? Why would they be paying you?" A quizzical, vaguely sarcastic voice asked from where its owner was perched on a sink. Hinata whipped around, her growing smile stopped dead in its tracks. This earned a short amused giggle from the pink haired girl sitting behind her. "Jumpy much? I never met a rich girl who was so into cleaning. Isn't it so great that you get to do something you love?"

_Patronizing witch..._

Sakura hopped lightly onto the floor, careful to avoid the edge of the darkly cloudy puddle.

"Ah haha.. hah. I didn't hear you come in. What- what are you still doing at school?" Hinata asked, laughing back nervously. It really was strange insofar as Sakura and her posse usually being gone a microsecond after the last bell. _Go on, shoo._

Sakura frowned. "You answer my question first. What were you saying about Konoha?"

"Huh?" Hinata stared at the other girl with wide and blank, then panicked eyes. "Oh, nothing, it's not important." Her straight dark braids swung wildly as she shook her lowered head, inwardly cursing both her shyness and her inability to think on her feet.

She had put a lot of effort into hiding the fact that she worked as a janitor, to the slightly paranoid extent of cross-dressing, and she wasn't about to have it leaked all over the school.

"Eh?" There goes the eyebrow, Hinata thought, peeking up through her bangs. The raised eyebrow that meant the issue would not be allowed to rest before she's raked it through and run it over twice._ Stuck it under a microscope and subjected it to tortuous tests._

"Heh... Uh, c-could you maybe stand someplace else? I kind of have to finish this. Uh- not that I'm telling you to go away, j-just... You don't have to wait for me, you know, if, if you don't want to..." _God I'm pathetic. Go home!  
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Sakura took a slow step forward instead. "Why are you being so secretive? Aren't we friends?"

_No._

Another step, too close. "Hinata-chan," she smiled. "Tell me," _'My, what sharp teeth you have..'_ "You have a 'boyfriend' there, don't you?"

_...?  
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"No? Hmm. You said he was paying you," Sakura made a comically shocked expression and clapped a delicate hand to her mouth. "It couldn't be-" The hand was removed and she leaned in to whisper the rest. "Something like 'escort', could it?"

_...Did she?_

Sakura giggled, already gleefully skipping out the door where girlish footsteps could be heard coming down the hall.

_Did she just call me a prostitute?_

"Ohmigod, don't worry! Your secret's perfectly safe with me-" The hushed greetings and unintelligible, but unmistakable sound of gossip that followed until they rounded the corner made Hinata think otherwise.

_I hate my life._

ii

"Hey! Gaara, wait up for a sec!" Kankuro called, jogging as best he could with a bag full of heavy textbooks. "Te-ma-ri," The brown-haired boy began, lengthening each syllable of their sister's name until he'd finished rummaging around inside of it. Gaara counted 20 seconds before the end of the 'ri'. "- wanted me to give this to you." Kankuro proudly held out a leatherbound copy of an old medical trial and Gaara took it without enthusiasm.

"Thank you, looks fascinating."

"Haha- don't look at me, she's the one who wants you to be a doctor." Kankuro adjusted the strap straining his shoulder with a grunt. "And you should pick up some broccoli and chickpeas on your way home from school, she said she's cooking tonight. Some sort of soup." He shrugged and Gaara nodded, dubiously glancing through the hand-scrawled notes in his hand.

"Just how old is this thing?"

"I think Temari got it from her Bio prof, the one she's assistant to as she's so fond of telling us. Early 1920's?" Kankuro answered, frowning at his watch. "'Kay, I've got a lab I can't be late for so I'll see you at home." _91 years? _Gaara examined the book's yellowed cover more closely. _Will the pages disintegrate if I try and read it?_

Kankuro clapped his brother on the shoulder and took off down a side path. Before making it all the way around the bend he skidded to a halt to call back, "Wait, forget what I said, she wants red kidney beans and carrots! Carrots!", then almost tripped on his own shoelaces when he turned back, causing him not to see the long protruding branch that whipped him across the forehead.

Muffled slightly by the distance, "I'm o-kay!"

Gaara slipped Optical Nerve Reattachment in Amphibians into his bag and continued along the sidewalk, wondering if they were really related.

ii

"Do-don't think.. think... haah" Naruto panted, his running already slowing with exhaustion. _Damnit!_ If only he hadn't run 20 laps around the track after school! It probably hadn't been such an awesome idea to do all those sit-ups either, even if there had been girls watching.

"Haah.. Haah!" He could hear Jiraiya panting laughter from a few paces ahead. Damn Ero-nin, the rent was almost due!

"Don't think you'll get away from me that easily!" Naruto felt a sudden burst of strength just as he could feel his legs about to give way. One leap and he had grabbed hold of his guardian's flapping vinyl coat and they were both rolling on the ground. Over the sidewalk and down the grassy hill, picking up speed as they went.

'Oof!' 'Agh!' 'Watch it kid, that's my arm!' 'Then keep to your own side old man!'

After much sputtering and indignation they reached the bottom. Jiraiya sat up to shake some of the grass out of his excessively long hair while Naruto leaped up, full of energy.

"Hah! You're not Ero-nin anymore, you're Ero.. Ero-slow!"

"Your nicknames are terrible. Puh! You couldn't have just held my arm or something? Pfft!" Jiraiya spit out more grass.

"Now-" Naruto took a moment to catch his breath, "Now, go talk to the landlord! Oba-chan's serious this time, she'll kick us out!"

"Ha ha ha," Jiraiya chuckled heartily, "Tsunade's an old friend, don't you worry your pretty little head about it." He stood and brushed his clothes off once more. "Tut- look what you've done to my coat, it's practically green now."

Naruto folded his arms but his face was grinning. "C'mon, it's already 7 but you can still catch most of your show."

Jiraiya often left for a days at a time 'for work', jokingly quoting that the only thing he missed was Hot in Cleveland (Naruto was sure he was joking, Jiraiya definitely missed him too. What Naruto didn't understand was where Jiraiya could be going that he didn't have access to basic cable.). The sitcom was the older man's latest obsession, just behind his erotic novels and creeping every attractive woman that walked by.

Naruto could already see his words having an effect as Jiraiya hmm'ed and hawed about still not having completed his 'research'. As far as the blond boy could tell, all his guardian's 'research' entailed was frequenting spas and women's lingerie stores, but Jiraiya continued to insist that it was necessary for him to write.

"I hear its a one-hour special."

It worked. "Hot-damn, what are you waiting for? Go wave us down a taxi!"

Naruto nodded, happy to oblige, and the two of them spent 30 minutes trying to remember the number for one after realizing taxis usually didn't ride through the rural outskirts of town looking for business.

"Wow, we ran far, eh?"

"Just keep walking."

"Real far. . ." Naruto reached up to cradle the back of his head in his arms, still grinning.

ii

"Pass the gravy, would you dear?" Hinata's maternal grandmother's kind, elderly voice sounded completely at odds with the cold, clipped business-like tones preferred by the rest of the family. At the moment they were adressing their favourite topic for dinner conversation: Hyuuga co.'s current performance in the stock market.

Hinata nodded, smiling with real affection. "Of course Grandma, here. Careful, it's hot."

"Neji, take the saucière so she doesn't drop it." Hiashi harrumphed in a clichéd, 'rich-old-man', manner that might have been funny had it not been so insulting. _I'm not an invalid, _Hinata thought mutinously. _Still can't get over your disappointment that he's not your biological child instead of me? There's no reason you can't have a male heir to the company, there's one sitting right in front of you._

The boy complied, gently prying the boat form his cousin's hands with a murmured 'Yes Uncle' and quick smirk of superiority flashed at Hinata. _Petty bastard_. _Thank god these things are so infrequent._ She could honestly say that her grandma was the only person she missed from home.

"The stock fell slightly on Monday, but by lunchtime Tuesday it was back up higher than it was before!" One of her uncles said it as if he were making some incredibly clever joke and some of the other men nodded in approval.

_Madness.. Madness everywhere! _Hinata wished she could throw her head back at how ridiculous these people were._ Maybe I was switched at birth. _

She had never seriously considered this, though it used to play a part in her boring-lesson daydreams. The resemblance between them all was too strong- everyone meeting them for the first time had to remark at the freakishly pale eyes that ran in their family.

They didn't phrase it like that, but that was what they meant.

Dinner passed at such an agonizingly slow pace that by the end of it Hinata was wondering if time really didn't have a way of slowing down for the Hyuugas. That Hiashi's annoying assistant wasn't just being annoying when he said that.

Now the uncles were being handed their hats and the aunts the furs they wore even though it was summer as Jeeves the butler (not his real name) ushered them politely out the door. Neji followed a moment later, taking his time to bid the others farewell, even though he knew his cousins had to wait for him. Every two months on the pretense of a friendly visit, Neji would inspect the two bedroom apartment the two Hyuuga girls shared for cleanliness and order. The next evening he would make a report to Hiashi. If they failed they were deemed incapable of living on their own and would be ordered to return to the manor. This was part of the real, legal contract Hanabi and Hinata had been made to sign in exchange for their freedom. The other two parts, which for some reason only applied to Hinata as she was the eldest and because Hiashi was a jerk, was that she maintain perfect grades and a part time job.

So far they had passed all 10 inspections: an achievement they were quite proud of given the thoroughness with which each was conducted and, Hinata suspected, a source of great jealousy and therefore ire for Neji. They had been enemies since he'd discretely pulled their hair as children to make them cry, and then be lectured about Hyuugas not crying. Neji was probably biding his time, waiting patiently as only someone distantly related to snakes could, for them to fail.

_Well we won't. We'll finish school like this and then move far away for university. The same university. And we'll stay up late watching chick flicks and laugh at you for being such a-!_

Hinata still couldn't think of a word dispicable enough to describe her cousin without swearing ('damn' didn't count) and so just let the sentence hang like she always did.

"Shall we go." Neji stated in a tone that suggested he would rather not and Hanabi nudged her sister, wondering how she could be smiling like that after the evening they'd both just been through.

ii

"Damnit Kankuro, I said chickpeas and broccoli! How the hell do you expect me to make a chickpea-broccoli rigatoni with kidney beans and carrots?" An angry female voice scolded from the kitchen, having just glanced through the grocery bag Gaara had deposited there after getting in.

"Hey hey, calm down. They're vegetables too ya' know, not like I told him to get chicken or something." Kankuro called back, eyes focused on the tv screen where he was currently in the lead in some sort of racing game.

"It was one little thing to remember and you screwed it up!" The sound of metal pots and pans rattling past each other. "Honestly, would it kill you to just get what I asked for once in a while?" Temari huffed and Gaara reflected that she must sound awfully harsh to the old lady who lived in the apartment next door, what passed for walls between them being unnervingly thin. They could usually hear her playing old records and talking to her cats or the other old ladies who came to visit every week almost as if she were in the room. Though to be fair, the woman was nearly deaf and had to speak and be spoken to at volumes that could have made it through even the thickest walls.

But old Mrs. Thompson wasn't getting the full story unless she knew about Kankuro purposely 'forgetting' which ingredients Temari wanted every other day, and how could she? Temari practically dropped to a whisper when seriously discussing anything personal. She only ever shouted about mundane things like groceries.

Kankuro played it like a game. If she said 'soy milk', he wrote 'coconut milk' on Gaara's grocery list when it was the youngest brother's turn to do the shopping. If she wrote 'spinach' on Gaara's grocery list, he crossed it out and wrote 'romaine lettuce'. The only time she could be sure of getting what she wanted was on the days she did the shopping herself, which usually wasn't more often than twice a week with her part time job and university.

Their father had arranged for his secretary to send them an allowance each week before leaving on his two-year, overseas business trip, but it wasn't quite enough to cover all expenses. He believed in young people fending for themselves financially. 'You think _my_ father gave me an allowance? Laziness! Wouldn't have dreamt of asking him!' He only agreed to supporting them when they offered to move out with Gaara before he was 18.

"Still vegan." Kankuro's retort turned into a cheer as he made a narrow win against a hedgehog-like creature and celebratory music starting playing from the tv.

Temari gave one more half-hearted huff and then was largely silent while she worked out what sauce would go best with carrots. To be entirely truthful, she almost enjoyed Kankuro's little game. She liked being surprised at whatever he or Gaara brought her and using all of her cooking skills to come up with a last-minute meal plan almost as much as not having to cook at all. Vocally she opposed eating out because of the excessive cost (they were on a budget after all) but privately, would miss their routine more than anything.

"Attention diners: your food is on the slab." In 30 minutes the three of them were settling down to the large, thin cement slab lain across two thicker slabs which served as a low-lying table. Kankuro had found them at the junkyard he used to work at in the early days when they first moved into their apartment. He'd been enthralled and though the three of them sometimes talked about buying a proper table, one that was not literally made of trash, nobody really wanted to. It had character with its jutting edges worn smooth by the sun and the rain. Plus, its granite-esque façade made it a pretty convincing stand-in.

"Mmmh- see, who needs chickpeas?" Kankuro smacked his lips appreciatively after tasting some steaming pasta, nodding to Temari.

She smiled back at him, twirling spaghetti around her fork. "You just prepare yourself- on thursday I'm going to stuff an entire package of hummus down your throat."

"Haha." Kankuro rolled his eyes but Temari didn't answer. "... Not really, right? Hummus is gr-oss."

"Gaara have you started reading that study I got for you from Professor Brown?" Temari turned to ask, pretending she couldn't hear Kankuro pretending to gag from across the slab. "He said it would be of great interest to any future doct- Gaara your face!"

Gaara jumped, startled at Temari's sudden change of tone. Delinquents hurling insults and trying to beat him up never scared him, but for some reason his sister did.

"Whah, whah's wrong wi' 'is fashe?" Kankuro asked concernedly, still slurping up a string of noodles.

_Fuck. I could've sworn those guys never landed a hit. _Maybe being around Sasuke so much, his best and only friend apart from two blood relatives, was making him cocky._  
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"Is that a bruise? It is!" Temari exclaimed while Gaara tried to pull away. "You've been fighting again, haven't you? Oh, Gaara, what am I going to do with you!"

"Temari, sheesh, it's just marinara." Kankuro jabbed with his fork toward the spot on Gaara's chin Temari had been examining.

"What are you talking about? It's obviously- oh." She frowned and wiped it off. "Well."

"Haha!" Kankuro laughed, raising his glass to his lips, and Gaara felt a wave of relief sweep over him. Temari hated violence with a passion more violent than any fight Gaara had ever been in and her brutally long lectures on peace, Ghandi and the Hippocratic oath were apt to be given out anywhere, anytime. But though Gaara did his best not to make the school call his house for fighting, the police call his house for assault, or expose any bruises in her presence, he could never seem to convince himself to actually stop fighting.

"Well." Temari continued to frown but said no more on the subject.

ii iii ii iii ii

**I wonder if I'll get any more reviews?** ~(ಥ A ಥ)~

**Regardless, I hope all who read this enjoy!**

**Also, it's funny, but I find I don't really care about the Naruto series anymore. Is it cheating to keep writing a fanfiction for something you don't even read anymore?  
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	3. Chapter 3

**Think it needs a dash more 'Hinata'? ( ˚x˚ )''  
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**Even newer chapter! **

**Even though it's short!  
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**3 **(︶ U ︶)/**  
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ii iii ii iii ii

"Hmm.." Hinata frowned, scratching at the local spray-paint-vandal's latest work adorning Konoha Secondary's brick facade. If the school really was considering security cameras, the school newspaper club here wasn't exactly known for its accuracy, she wished they'd hurry up with it. Every time she painstakingly washed and scraped it off some jerk (or jerks) went and redid it. Their 'art'. Puh.

Even if it did look almost.. beautiful, it was still graffiti. And illegal. The bane of the principal's existence and therefore that of the janitors she commanded.

Hinata stared at it for a few minutes, admiring the landscape grudgingly. She couldn't help but wonder with exasperation why the artist so abhorred canvases, and, more reluctantly, how anyone could manage such intricate work in a single night.

Well. _'_I hope you get caught._'_ Hinata muttered to herself as she dipped the customary rag into her bucket of cleaning solution and warm water. She wiped at the miniature crane first, staring at it accusingly when the paint didn't start coming off in small chips like it usually did.

"-yeah, it was awesome." Judging from the scraps of conversation drifting by, a group of boys were loitering around the corner.

_Maybe suspended,_ Hinata thought irritably, scrubbing harder.

"-why not? You never come!"

_No, expelled_! Judging by the unusually shiny quality of the art, the vandal had thought to top this one with a coat of water-proof varnish. _Honestly, where does this guy find the time?_

Hinata shook herself. "Ugh! That's it." She squinted at the graceful little elm trees lined up behind the dark puddle of a lake. "Just you wait.." This matter could no longer be left to chance, she decided, checking out the bushes a short distance away for a place to hide a webcam.

"That's cold Sasuke! I'm freezing over here-" Peals of laughter, the sound of teasing.

Hinata had just chosen a likely looking branch when she froze with the shocking realization that she hadn't recognized Naruto's voice. She turned back to the wall, smiled blankly as she strained her ears trying to catch the end of their conversation.

"Eh? What do you mean?" Her crush's voice asked, sounding as energetic as ever. _He must be with his friends.  
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Hinata blushed, suddenly feeling nervous and out of place even knowing they couldn't see her. She worried that she smelled like hydrochloric acid from scraping gum off the gym floor before remembering that she was still dressed as her male-alter ego.

_Oh. Right. I'm Hiro now._ Hiro. The name she'd seen on the side of a transport truck and decided to adopt, having already had the brilliant-if-she-did-say-so-herself idea to hide her identity while working as a minimum-wage janitor.

She suspected that Hiashi had called in the unsolicited favour that got her the job in order to shame her into returning home but this way she didn't even feel embarrassed. Not when she was revarnishing the fence, not when she was sweeping the main steps, nor mopping the hallways or cutting the grass. For some reason, being a boy took away all of the inhibitions that made her so meek at Saint Benedict's.

It had been a manga that gave her the idea, several actually, and after much pleading and cajoling Hanabi had finally agreed to taking the bus out of town to buy her clothes from the men's section of Mizu Outfitters. (The few times Hinata had seen the other janitor, a kindly Mexican lady who spoke little English, the woman had been wearing a smart work smock with her name and 'Konoha Secondary' printed on the breast in swirly letters but apparently no one had thought to get Hinata one.) The ordinary pants and collared shirts (Hanabi later complained that Hinata had some very similar clothes already in her closet) along with a pair of extra-dark sunglasses and the gangsta' cap she found at the beach completed her 'clever' disguise.

Hinata wasn't sure whether even the person who'd hired knew she was a girl. The woman had seemed rather distracted at the time and hadn't asked Hinata to fill out any forms with a gender box to check, just one that said she promised not to sue them should she get hurt.

_Maybe I should get myself a fake moustache_, Hinata grinned to herself.

"Ha-ha, you're s-o funny. And you!- how can you side with him?" More laughter.

Come to think of it, she still had no idea what Naruto and the others were talking about, seeing as she could only hear the blond's side of it. Sweet, dear Naruto of the unreasonably loud voice.

_Guess I better get closer._ Still grinning, 'Hiro' casually approached the boys, twirling the wet rag around in her fingers, and settled against the wall nearest them. A boy with spikey brown hair held back with an elastic was lying on the grass with his hands behind his head and his eyes closed. Naruto was sitting up, gesticulating wildly at a handsome boy with black hair. A fourth boy with messy brown hair was currently trying to make the spikey haired one sneeze with a plant stalk.

"Alright, fine! I'll-" Naruto faltered but his expression hardened into one of determination and he continued. "I'll even pay for you!"

_So cute!_

The black haired boy scoffed. "Like that would make me want to come. I told you, I'm busy."

"You can take one night off from studying!"

"It's not studying, dobe. I'm meeting up with a friend."

"Who?" Naruto demanded and Hinata got the feeling that he had asked this question before.

"Someone you don't know."

"Meet your girlfriend some other time." Kiba said dismissively, earning an amused look from the dark haired boy. "Jesus Christ, Sasuke, just go. It's his birthday for Chrissake." A short pause. "And stop using words we don't understand."

"Kiba!" Naruto looked as scandalized as Hinata felt. Naruto's birthday? She hadn't even gotten him a card! "You said you were gonna quit swearing so much!"

"Oh right- sorry." Kiba grinned wolfishly at his friend before asking in a more serious tone, "Uhh.. do any of you know that guy?"

Hinata started to scan the horizon for the newcomer before realizing it was herself. Now all four of them had turned to look at her curiously. Apparently she hadn't thought this whole 'getting closer' thing through very well.

"Oh, hi." Naruto greeted her cluelessly.

_Oh god kill me nowghraaghbludfhsjhj_

_Wait._

Hinata's blush stopped before it had even began._ Hiro. _She lazily raised a hand in greeting. "Nice of you to finally notice." She was surprised to feel a confident smirk on her face. She had never approached a student before so hadn't been sure what to expect, but it certainly wouldn't have been this.

This complete absence of self-consciousness.

"Yeah? Wha'do you want?" Kiba shot back and Hinata almost giggled at the picture of him sizing her up.

"Read the sign kid: 'Keep Off the Grass'." Hinata replied with the first thing that came to mind. "This is your first warning."

Kiba looked at the others incredulously but they looked equally confused, perhaps partly because the newcomer looked to be the same age as them but was adressing them as children.

"Over there." 'Hiro' pointed out helpfully to a small plaque attached to the wall, overgrown with ivy, proclaiming the use of pesticides and indeed advising students to 'keep off the grass'.

Kiba started to reply but Sasuke cut him off. "Who're you, anyway?"

Kiba couldn't help himself. "You can't be serious- everyone uses the grass!" Sasuke shot him a look of annoyance.

Hiro only said, "New Janitor. And like I said, keep off my grass." before turning coolly and strolling away back around the corner to get some stronger detergent.

ii

A couple of girls stopped talking mid-conversation when they saw Hinata enter the library that afternoon. After a quiet minute or so they started up again in whispers and hushed giggles.

Hinata kept her face neutral but felt a flash of anger. She recognized them from St. Benedict's and they weren't even part of Sakura's crew. _News travels awfully fast, doesn't it?_ Hinata asked herself dully as she scanned the rows of books for an interesting title.

But even if it had come from the gossip queen Sakura, Hinata had to wonder how many people actually believed the rumour that she was now prostitute.

Well whatever. Hinata selected a hardcover novellette at random and nonchalently made her way to her favourite corner to start reading. They could believe what they wanted.

She was still riding a slight high from her earlier confidence in actually talking to Naruto and his friends. True, it hadn't been much of a conversation, but it was something she never would have thought herself capable of.

Naruto had seen her! Disguised as a boy or no, Naruto had acknowledged her presence!

_I'll get him something on the way home- no! I'll make him something. Better late than never! ha ha..._ She smiled into her hands giddily. All she'd ever done was admire him from afar but now today-

"Do you mind?" A deep male voice asked in a monotone, making Hinata jump with surprise. There was no one else at the multi-person desk and she concluded that he must have been talking to her, though she didn't quite understand.

"U-um.." She could make out brilliant crimson locks cascading past a delicate pale profile from beneath her lowered eyelashes. "What.." Hinata had started to ask 'Mind what?' when she came to the realization that the boy was probably asking to sit down. "Oh! Um-"

He spoke politely but a lack of intonation made his voice eerily inhuman. "That book. Can I have it back?"

"Huh?" Hinata's cheeks flushed at her misunderstanding and because the redhead was making her more nervous than usual. She still felt confused until she had the more accurate realization that he wanted the thick textbook she'd been using to prop up her novel and she said again, "Oh!", before holding it out without looking at him.

"Thank you." Hinata stared at the next page until his footsteps had died away and she was able to concentrate.

_Yeah, I'm s-o confident.._

ii

"Shh!" Naruto flapped his hands, gesturing for Kiba to stop making so much noise. "Who told you to bring chips?" He whispered, turning back to the semi-deserted street illuminated only by the yellowish-orange light of a single dying lamppost. Naruto had walked through this area before but never at night. It felt kind of shady.

Kiba swallowed. "Choji offered-"

"Shh!" Naruto clapped a hand over his friend's mouth as a tall boy with dark hair came into view.

Sasuke was walking alone, presumably to meet this 'friend' he refused to introduce them to. Naruto started to tell Kiba that whoever it was probably lived around here, but clapped a second hand to his own mouth.

Sasuke was some distance away and, thankfully, didn't seem to have heard either of the boys watching him from the bushes. Kiba rolled his eyes at the sky.

The two of them had just returned from Naruto's birthday celebration at Ichiraku's (bottomless ramen on everyone but him) where the blond had drawn Kiba away from the crowd to tell him about this little recon mission he'd been planning since Sasuke'd left for prep school.

Naruto, keeping a finger to his lips, slowly rose to follow the Uchiha's progress down the street. It was a good thing there were no houses on this side- the grass of the field successfully muffled the sound of their footsteps.

All of a sudden, Sasuke stopped and stood in the middle of the street. He looked in their direction and for a moment Naruto thought for sure that they'd been caught, but it wasn't long before another person appeared and the two started walking again.

So Sasuke had just been waiting. Huh. Naruto breathed a quiet sigh of relief before his curiosity struck and he leaned forward through the leaves obscuring his view to get a better look at his friend's companion.

It was a boy to Naruto's surprise and Kiba's shock. Hair that was either dark red or light brown and a slim figure hidden under somewhat baggy clothes.

Huh. Kiba looked to be deeply confused and Naruto felt the same.

Why didn't Sasuke feel he could introduce them to this guy? Was he.. ashamed of them? Naruto looked back at Kiba, this time more closely. Neither of them had bothered to change out of their uniforms and they did look a little worn.

Kiba raised an eyebrow at him and the two of them crept away in the opposite direction to where Sasuke and the redhead were headed.

"What are you grinning for?" Kiba had gotten over being wrong about Sasuke meeting a girlfriend but now Naruto was acting weird.

"Tomorrow we're gonna find him and we're gonna become friends!"

To Kiba's blank, unenthused expression he explained, "See, if we get to know him first, Sasuke won't have any reason not to introduce us."

Kiba still didn't look interested but couldn't help but ask, "Uh- wouldn't he already know who we are if we got to know him? Why would Sasuke need to introduce us again?"

"Yeah! See? We become friends and Sasuke sees there was no reason to worry."

"Worry about what?"

"Meet me here tomorrow at noon!"

"Naruto-"

"Bye!"

"Wait, you're just going to leave me here?" Kiba yelled indignantly. Naruto waved cheerfully from where he was running away down the street, only calling back 'noon!' as a reminder.

"I have basketball practice on Saturdays!"

ii

"Ah~" Hinata sighed, closing her eyes in pleasure.

Hanabi cocked an eyebrow from where she was wrapping food across the kitchen table. "Whoa now, don't get creepy on me. You look like you're cumming or something."

Hinata jumped in embarrassment but laughed as she told her sister off. Her expression turned dreamy as she returned her gaze to the mini raspberry cheesecake cradled in her arms. "Mm- but I think this might be the most delicious thing you've ever made."

Hanabi shook her head grimly. "I dont know how you stay so skinny when all you ever eat is sugar."

"Hey, that's not true." Hinata smiled, licking a small portion of whipped topping from her dessert.

"Pfft." Hanabi opened her mouth to tease the other girl some more but changed her tone when she heard the opening music of their favourite drama. "Oh shi- hurry up, hurry up!" Hanabi told herself, shoving a panful of mini-cheesecakes into the fridge before launching herself onto the couch. "C'mon!" She laughed. "It's starting!"

Hinata cheerfully folded herself beside her sister to the tune of 'Brown Eyes' by Destiny's Child, playfully changing the colour to cerulean blue in her head.

The next hour passed in excited silence puntuated with the occasional sardonic commment from Hanabi. Both of them were in tears by the end of the episode as the heroine was diagnosed with an incurable cancer and given 6 months to live.

"Hey.." Hanabi sniffed, staring at the muted commercials now playing across the screen of their modest tv. "Have you ever thought, 'What if I knew I was going to die tomorrow?', 'What would I do?'"

"Hanabi?" Hinata said softly, balling up a tissue to throw out. Hanabi's voice sounded disconnected, as if she were speaking from some great distance, and it scared her.

"Say, hypothetically, you knew- knew that tomorrow was D-day. How would you feel?" The younger Hyuuga girl continued to stare at the screen, eyes not following the toothpaste being advertised. "I don't think I would feel anything."

Hanabi turned to face her sister matter-of-factly. "I'm living exactly the way I want to- what's there to regret or change?"

For a moment the two of them just looked at each other. Then in one smooth motion Hinata half rose to wrap her arms tightly around Hanabi, sobbing as she had at the look on the doctor's face as he gave the drama lead her prognosis.

Hanabi looked rather startled but Hinata wouldn't let her pull away, even when she vocally protested and promised to short sheet the other's bed.

_I'm so glad. _Hinata hugged her sister tighter._ I'm so glad... _

It wasn't until later that night, alone in her bed, that Hinata really considered Hanabi's question. If she had only a short time to live, what would she change?

And knew immediately that her answer would be different from Hanabi's.

ii iii ii iii ii

**Review, if you please. **~(^ A ^)~

**Thanks, I'll probably keep writing Naruto ff here and there, though I probably won't have that much time since I'll be starting University in the fall. (ºuº)**

**More romance in the next chapter I should hope. ~(***٨***)~ As for what pairings... isn't it more fun if it's a surprise? Hina.. ;)  
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	4. Chapter 4

**I wrote this so long ago.. Completely forgot about this story in the whole transitioning to University thing. :P  
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**4 **\(* ³ *)/

ii iii ii iii ii

"Oi- you!" The boy mopping the school's entranceway called in an effeminate-sounding voice. Gaara sighed inwardly and turned but stayed where he was. He'd only wanted to return the school's book but seemed to attract delinquents wherever he went.

Not that he normally minded, but today Temari had decided to drive he and Kankuro to Suna for another 'friday family outing' which would invariably turn out to be shopping and the zoo. It would not be a good idea to be late, Gaara thought, remembering the clumpy gruel Temari had taken to preparing for Kankuro's dinners the last time he'd delayed them.

The boy who'd called out crooked a finger in Gaara's direction and, though it was dificult to tell through the sunglasses he wore despite their being indoors indoors, appeared to be glaring. When Gaara still didn't move, the boy scoffed at the ceiling and dragged his mop along the floor to where Gaara was standing.

"Who told you to track mud all over my clean floors? Huh? Think I don't have enough work to begin with? I need more, right? Not Like I have anything else to do!" The boy was speaking rather too quickly for a reply. "Well so what if I don't? Does everyone need to be busy? Why? Oh, my poor floors. Say something!" If Gaara had to guess, he would say the boy was agitated about something other than the smattering of dirt Gaara's shoes had left on the entrance mat. Perhaps he wasn't a delinquent after all, just terribly overworked with a bad temper.

"Defend yourself!" The boy berated him, looking as though Gaara had committed some great personal wrong against him.

"Please calm down." Gaara said simply. Even in stressful situations he spoke politely, partly because Temari had long ago nagged the habit into him, partly because he thought it might convince normal people that he wasn't dangerous if he had such great self-control. This last part had largely backfired on him as 'normal people' thought it eery and inhuman, but he didn't know about this.

"Calm down!" The stranger scoffed again. He opened his mouth to add more but the words never came and the two of them ended up staring at each other in silence. "Puh." The boy turned without looking at him and went back to mopping the clean floor.

Gaara watched him for a moment before continuing to the library, which he found closed with a sign hanging from the doorknob that read 'out for lunch' even though it was just past 4 o'clock.

Most other students were weary of him- reasonably so, to be honest. He didn't hold back during a fight and he was born with cold eyes that gave him the appearance of constantly glaring at something (or someone). He was naturally quiet and tended not to share interests with his peers, contributing to his image of 'unfriendly loner'.

Delinquent or not, however, Gaara was still vaguely offended by the students who seemed downright terrified of him, cowering and shrinking back when he walked past them in the halls. On the upside, though, he never had to wait in a long line-up at the cafeteria.

Angry Boy didn't seem to have any trouble talking to him. Perhaps he ought to take this opportunity to interact with someone who was neither Sasuke nor related to him- just in case the librarian planned on coming back.

ii

"... integer multiple of an infinitesimal is still infinitely small and therefore cannot satisfy the Archimedean property."

"And this is supposed to help me with _high school_ calculus?" Sasuke asked his tutor in irritation as soon as the other boy paused for a breath. "I already know how to differentiate."

"In Leibiz notation? I think not." The prematurely silver-haired boy answered from his spot on the Uchihas' living room couch. He looked quite comfortable with the Uchihas' orange tabby curled up in his lap.

"I'll never _need_ Leibiz notation!"

"That doesn't doesn't mean you don't need to know it. Inside. and. out." Kabuto's glasses flashed and he pushed them back up the bridge of his nose. "Now finish that problem set."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, 'infinitely' annoyed with the lecture, but picked up his pencil. His legs ached a little from kneeling so he stretched them out beneath the coffee table. Patric, as Sasuke's older brother had named the cat, took this moment to stretch his wide girth and leap down heavily. He wasn't as young as he used to be and though Itachi had taken to feeding him a low fat diet, didn't seem to have lost a single pound since Christmas.

"From this point of view, calculus is a collection of techniques for manipulating infinitesimals. But this approach fell out of favour in the 19th century..." Kabuto continued to lecture, brushing cat hair off the front of his impeccably ironed trousers.

_Everyone else my age is out having fun on a friday evening.._ Sasuke thought sourly. _I'd be at the top my class even without this crap._

ii

The boy hadn't been there when Gaara returned but he hadn't gone far. Gaara found him outside staring at a skillful portrait of Harriet Tubman that had been painted directly onto the brick wall.

Gaara set the iced tea he'd bought from a vending machine at the boy's feet and stepped back to examine the painting with him. It hadn't taken as long as the lake scene had, but he liked the shading it better.

"The hair looks a little discoloured, are you trying to remove it?" Gaara asked in a monotone, trying not to reveal how pleased he was that this varnish had turned out to be just as good as the crafty-looking old woman who ran the painting supplies store had assured him it was. Harriet Tubman now looked more bleached-white than black but her features were still perfectly intact.

The other boy looked at him in silence then slowly reached down to take a swig of the drink. "Trying." He said gruffly but added, "Damn bastard's not making it easy." in a more friendly tone.

"I suppose the artist is still at large. Any idea who it might be?" Gaara asked casually. It was unlikely that anyone would think to suspect him, but he couldn't help wondering if the principal had released the names of some 'potential culprits' to the newspaper club. When Tsunade'd had trouble finding the person who'd pulled the fire alarm last year, she'd started accusing people at random until the eleventh grader responsible had been exposed by his own friends. She had created an instability where any student could be suspended at any time that could only have been righted by the real culprit coming forward.

It wasn't the newspaper club's fault that their publication had so many misprints- they got their information directly from the office.

The dark haired boy laughed without humour and shook his head. "Well we know he's not from the art club." In answer to Gaara's questioning glance he continued, "Tsunade 'interviewed' them all personally." Then he laughed more normally. "Honestly though, it was already obvious- none of them are this good."

Gaara's glance grew even more questioning and the boy laughed again, looking slightly surprised at himself. "Not that I have any sympathy for this guy. I hope he gets expelled. Good or not- he's making my job a real pain in the ass. I'm Hiro." The boy held out a hand to shake and Gaara took it, almost feeling guilty about being the reason for Hiro's troubles. Almost.

"Gaara."

He hadn't intended to start this paint-and-dash routine. It just somehow happened that one night outwalking his insomnia he'd come across a half-full can of spray paint lying at the base of a trash can and a blank wall. At first he'd done only the typical calligraphy, random words and phrases that came to mind, but eventually segued into more painting-like art. The fact that whatever he threw up was erased within days of doing so made it into a sort of game, a fondness for which Gaara apparently shared with Kankuro.

Only now he appeared to be winning.

"Well good luck getting rid of it." Gaara said honestly, raising an arm in farewell. _What fun, after all, is a game that is too easy to win?_

"Thanks." Hiro looked at him thoughtfully before venturing back inside.

_Perhaps the Dalai Lama next.._

ii

"Hahaha!" Hinata cackled in triumph. Harriet Tubman could no longer be recognized as human thanks to about a truckload of baking soda and vinegar. "Haha! Ha.. Ha?" Hinata blushed, feeling a bit stupid.

After talking to the vaguely familiar redhead from earlier she had been feeling in much better spirits. Hinata was so used to being invisible living with her cowed personality at St. Benedict's and working a quiet job with no colleagues that having someone just come up and talk to her had been a pleasant surprise.

But that was no reason to go crazy. And being unreasonably happy about some stranger talking to you, especially one that gave the feeling of a vicious dog behind a fence, most certainly was crazy.

Hinata cleared her throat and got back to work taking off the last remnants of paint. _Happy days, happy days..._

ii

Naruto frowned at the time on his cellphone, checking it for the umpteenth time. Why wasn't Kiba texting him back? He was almost positive that basketball practices were on Sundays.

If Kiba didn't show up soon, Naruto decided, he would move forward on his own. The plan was deceptively simple: the two of them would knock on this guy's door and ask him to hang out. They would go to ichiraku's and the arcade (no places Sasuke frequented) and win him over with their charm. Once they were bosom buddies, they would all go sit on the steps outside Konoha Prep School where Sasuke would see them chatting and laughing and realize how silly he'd been to not introduce them.

The only problem right now was that it might look a little weird if just Naruto went, as if he were asking the other boy out on a date or something.

_Whatever's holding Kiba better be important..._ Naruto scanned the horizon impatiently but saw no one running over to him shouting apologies._ Well.. no use being bored._ Naruto tapped back to angry birds and picked up from where he'd left off a few seconds ago.

It was a long while before he saw movement from the corner of his eye and realized that the boy from the other night (_definitely red hair_) was already walking down the steep concrete steps leading to the apartment door- along with two others. Even Naruto could tell that they weren't related- the girl had stylishly choppy blonde ponytails and the boy had.. brown hair (_not much else to say_). Their faces looked nothing alike either, except for the redhead and the blonde if you squinted. And had bad eyes.

So. It seemed that Sasuke had more than one secret friend._ All the more reason to win them over, _Naruto grinned. _Wait, why are they getting in that car?_ Naruto looked around the same bushes he'd hid behind with Kiba in panic. The three strangers were now pulling out of the parking lot, the girl at the wheel.

None of them seemed to be looking in his direction except- yes! The brown haired boy happened to look directly into his face, which was poking out of the bushes. Naruto waved like mad but quickly realized its futility as the car rounded a corner and was gone.

Naruto let his arm drop. This wasn't how the day was supposed to go.

ii

Hanabi casually flicked the store's Hours of Operation sign and heaved a sigh. Konohamaru grabbed hold of the windowsill nearest the door and pulled himself up for a fraction of a second, attempting to peer inside.

"Here, hand me that box- the plastic one." He said, pulling himself back up for a second look. "Hey, this is pretty good exercise." Konohamaru grinned impishly at the girl beside him. Hanabi stared back at him with what most people would mistake for boredom but he knew to be defiance. She had always hated being told what to do, even when they were children.

"Fine, I'll get it." Konohamaru jumped down to pull the overturned produce crate he'd nodded towards a moment ago closer. He had one foot on top of it when he felt a tug on the sleeve of his shirt.

"Let me." Hanabi commanded.

Konohamaru blinked in surprise, then smiled, stepping down to help her. "You're certainly enthusiastic today. Something good must have happened." He teased, knowing Hyuugas were expected to be calm, emotionless creatures that struck their enemies like sharks. Surprise attacks when they least expected it, or something like that.

"So." Konohamaru stared up at the black glass with his hands in his pockets, feeling a little dizzy as he inhaled the scent of her perfume. "Anyone in there?"

Hanabi wiped a small circle of dust away from the glass with the handkerchief she never left home without and shook her head. Inside looked to be a claustrophobically small room with long wooden tables which were all completely bare. A chair had been placed next to the door but the sickly-looking man who'd been slouched over in it the first night they'd peeked in was long gone. "Unsurprisingly, no."

"Hmm." Konohamaru frowned. "They have to come back sometime."

"You've been saying that for two weeks. They've almost certainly moved on." Hanabi drew an 'X' in the dust and held out a hand for assistance in getting back down.

Konohamaru wasn't about to give up that easily. "How could they just ditch their headquarters?"

"You think they'd just stay in the same place forever? Your information is like, old, Kono-chan. Time to start over." Hanabi pretended to huff, invoking the childhood name she'd given him years ago.

Konohamaru turned toward the industrial area, mouth set. The sun was setting and the factory shapes of chimneys and blocky buildings looked less ugly than usual in its glow.

"Earth to Kono-chan?" Hanabi asked, hand still out. "I'm getting old over here."

"Oh. Right-" Konohamaru finally answered, taking it. "Alright fine, let's get out of here."

"Yeah."

ii

"I'm not religious but it makes me wanna pr-ay~ Wanna pr~ay~ayay~ay" Temari sung along to her Madonna CD, expertly swerving to avoid a pothole in the road, and the car in the next lane over honked at her angrily. "Nothing fails~" Gaara looked deep in thought staring at the trees passing by.

Neither seemed the least bit disturbed. Kankuro rubbed his head. Could it have all been an illusion? He'd assumed it had simply been the neighbourhood kids having a bit of fun sneaking around old Mcgruber's failed strawberry patch yesterday, but he was starting to wonder. He hadn't been able to recognize any of them but chalked it up to the half-light of that annoying street lamp the city refused to fix. Who was the blond kid? Kankuro thought he looked like their leader or something.

_And why did he wave? To say hello? Yeah, right. A threat? Who'd be crazy enough to threaten us?  
><em>

It didn't make sense and things that didn't make sense tended to gnaw away at him until he found a suitable explanation. There was only one thing for it.._  
><em>

"Ahem." Kankuro cleared his throat, trying to get his siblings' attention. When neither paid attention he coughed again. And again and again until Temari offered him a cough drop and Gaara looked at him, head tilted in concern.

"Oh- no thanks, I think I'm good now." He wasn't sure how long their attention would hold so he talked fast. "You don't think we have a stalker do you?"_ Fuck._ He'd been meaning to work up to that.

"A what?" Temari laughed incredulously, reaching over to turn down the music. Gaara's concern now looked like furious rage, though it was tough to tell with him. Could've been confusion.

"Why would anyone want to stalk us?" Gaara's voice sounded less monotone and Kankuro decided he would go with confusion.

"Well- ah.." Kankuro felt his cheeks growing hot but figured that may as well see this through to the end. "I take it neither of you saw that guy in front of our house."

Kankuro saw Temari raise an eyebrow at him in the rearview mirror. "What, you mean Joe Carpenter? His car broke down and he had to wait for a towtru- fuck!" A deer darted out into the middle of the road and Temari slammed on the brakes. "God that scared the shit out of me. I say we move to Arizona- I wouldn't mind running over some lizards. Ha ha!"

Kankuro sweatdropped._ Might wanna get those moodswings checked Scary Lady._ "No, uh, not Joe. Younger."

"Crazy deer.. Well it's not like he's the only person out there. You do realize that other people live in our building too, don't you? Haha!"

"He wasn't from- He had blond hair!"

"My brilliant brother, you're right. Only 50 or so people around here have blond hair. Nice reasoning there, university boy."

"He was wa- Ah! You know what, just forget it." Kankuro slumped back in his seat and tried to push the kid from his mind.

"Quit mumbling back there- here, I'll even stop at Timmy's for you." Temari grinned while Kankuro continued to frown out the window, trying not to feel happy about it.

ii iii ii iii ii

**You should now review this chapter so I know if people like where the story's going. **~(￣ A ￣)~ **Or, you know, If my readers have all died off or something. :)**

Lost the Hinata-centricity again but c'mon, the other characters are fun too. Plus writing from the same perspective all the time gets so monotonous. ;)


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